Method of displaying recorded material and display device using the same

ABSTRACT

A method of displaying a recorded material and display device using the same facilitates user recognition of the content of selected recorded material prior to its reproduction. The display device includes a personal video recorder for storing content of at least one recording item of a recording item list; a PVR controller ( 104 ) for extracting a plurality of thumbnails corresponding to each stored recorded item, each thumbnails being extracted in correspondence to a prescribed time interval; and a display module ( 106 ) for displaying the recording item list in response to a recording item list request and for simultaneously displaying, in response to a user selection of a specific recording item, the extracted thumbnails corresponding to the selected recording item via a corresponding plurality of preview windows. A specific preview window is designated, and the selected recording item is reproduced from a recording position corresponding to the thumbnail of the designated window.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of prior U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/675,568 filed Jun. 10, 2010, which is a NationalStage application under 35 U.S.C. §365 of International Application No.PCT/KR2007/006891 filed on Dec. 27, 2007, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119 to Korean Application No. 10-2007-0087158 filed on Aug. 29,2009, whose entire disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates to display devices, and more particularly,to a method of displaying recorded material and a display device usingthe same.

2. Background

A contemporary display device, such as a television receiver providedwith a personal video recorder (PVR), enables the storage (i.e.,recording) and playback (i.e., reproduction) of received signals, e.g.,received television broadcasts and other video-based content, accordingto a user selection from a recording item list, which may be displayedusing on-screen display (OSD) data. Such a recording item list can beviewed as an OSD menu including selectable icons, for example, in theform of titles and/or thumbnails, providing a user with means todesignate for playback a specific recording item of the list.

Meanwhile, the display device may be further provided with a limitedpreview mode enabling a user to recognize content of a designated(highlighted) recording item. A recording item is typically designatedby manipulating a curser to navigate the displayed recording item list,for example, to select a specific recording item for playback. In thepreview mode, a thumbnail or other sample image corresponding to eachmenu item (e.g., title) may be displayed via a corresponding previewwindow. That is, the OSD menu of the recording item list uses a singlepreview window to display a sample image of the corresponding recordingitem when highlighted for playback execution.

For improved user recognition of the selected recording item, the singlepreview window may display more than one such thumbnail or sample image.For example, a plurality of thumbnails may appear in the preview windowthrough the use of a type of a revolving display, where a predeterminedviewing time period is allotted for each thumbnail before the nextthumbnail is likewise displayed for a similar time period. In otherwords, prior to playback execution, a single preview window may displaya predetermined set of sample images, one by one, in correspondence toany selected one of the recording items. Such a revolving display may beinitiated for a default menu item (e.g., the latest recording item) inthe absence of a user selection from the recording item list or uponsuch recording item selection by the user.

In a contemporary display device as described above, however, a user hasdifficulty in recognizing the overall contents of corresponding recordedmaterial at a glance. Also, after selection of a specific recording itemfor playback, in the event that there may be a favorite or otherwisespecially desired portion of the selected recording item, it may takethe user considerable time to search for a corresponding recording pointenabling more immediate playback.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method of displayingrecorded material and display apparatus using the same thatsubstantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of displayingrecorded material and display apparatus using the same, whichfacilitates user recognition of the contents of selected recordedmaterial prior to its reproduction (playback).

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofdisplaying recorded material and display apparatus using the same, whichfacilitates user recognition of the contents of all recorded materialavailable for reproduction (playback).

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofdisplaying recorded material and display apparatus using the same, whichfacilitates the recognition and designation for playback of a specificrecording position of recorded material selected (designated) by a user.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein,there is provided a method of displaying recorded material in a displaydevice. The method comprises displaying a recording item list having aplurality of recording items; and simultaneously displaying, in responseto a user selection of a specific recording item, a plurality of sampleimages corresponding to the selected recording item via a correspondingplurality of preview windows.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda display device comprising a personal video recorder (PVR) unit forstoring content of at least one recording item of a recording item list;a PVR controller for extracting a plurality of sample imagescorresponding to each stored recording item; and a display moduleincluding a screen for displaying the recording item list in response toa recording item list request and for simultaneously displaying, inresponse to a user selection of a specific recording item, the extractedsample images corresponding to the selected recording item via acorresponding plurality of preview windows.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiment(s) of the inventionand together with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a display device according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary screen image according to thepresent invention, in which a plurality of thumbnails are simultaneouslydisplayed via a plurality of preview windows in association with aselected recording item;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a routine for generating and storing recordingitem OSD data in a display device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a routine for displaying selected recordedmaterial on a recording item list of a display device according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a routine for selecting a displayed thumbnailto operate a display device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a routine executed in the event of aninterrupted playback of recorded material in a display device accordingto the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an exemplary screen image in which a plurality ofthumbnails is displayed in conjunction with a time-shift function of adisplay device according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a plurality of preview windows for asingle item of a recording item list is employed, for example, as partof an OSD menu. The preview windows of the present invention occupyadjacent areas of the same screen and respectively display N sampleimages (e.g., thumbnails) of one selected recording item in associationwith another identifying feature (e.g., a program title) of the selecteditem. By thus displaying the plurality of sample images simultaneously,a user is able to recognize the overall contents of recorded material ata glance and may be further provided with time information correspondingto a position of any one or all of the sample images. In particular,without playing or viewing a selection of recorded material in itsentirety, the N sample images of a selected (highlighted) recording itemare simultaneously displayed via the N preview windows, respectively.The set of N sample images, which may include still images, thumbnails,or sample moving pictures, may represent equally spaced divisions of anitem of the recorded material. For example, the recording length (runtime) of a selected recording item may be divided by a number N, i.e., avalue set by the user or determined as a default value, where arepresentative sample image is extracted from the recorded material incorrespondence to each interval. Accordingly, a set of sample images maybe simultaneously displayed via the plural preview windows,respectively, with time information of each interval being displayed inassociation with the corresponding sample image.

Referring to FIG. 1, a display device such as a television receiverincludes a user interface 101; a personal video recorder (PVR)controller 103 for controlling a PVR unit 104 according to a systemprogram executed by a microcomputer (not shown); a video displayprocessor 105 for processing a video signal including recording item OSDdata (menu data) to be displayable via a display module 106, which maybe in the form of a cathode ray tube or a flat-panel (e.g., LCD or PDP)display device; a system memory 107 for storing the system program andadditional information under control of the microcomputer; and anon-screen display (OSD) data generator 108. The PVR unit 4 includes aPVR interface 104 a and a storage medium 104 b, such as a hard discdrive, where the PVR interface may be in the form of a system-on-chipdevice. The user interface 101 comprises a plurality of keys of, forexample, a remote or local physical or virtual keypad of the displaydevice, including a recording key for requesting a recording operationto be performed with respect to a received video input signal and arecording item list key for requesting an on-screen display of arecording item list, which is an OSD menu for selecting recordedmaterial for playback. In a display device or television receiver asabove, recording item OSD data comprises a configuration of recordingitem list data (e.g., title information) and a plurality of extractedsample images (e.g., thumbnails) and is displayed as an OSD menu, whichmay be superposed on, or substituted for, a processed video signal.

Meanwhile, a display device (e.g., a television receiver) according tothe present invention, which includes a personal video recorder, istypically configured to receive a video input signal (VIDEO IN)including content to be recorded in the personal video recorder. Thatis, the display device according to the present invention may beprovided with means to receive and record additional video content,i.e., in addition to that which may already be stored in the storagemedium 104 b. Here, the storage medium 104 b of the display deviceaccording to the present invention may be provided internally or may beconnected externally as an externally disposed or remotely accessible(e.g., via the Internet) storage device. As such, the display device ofthe present invention may be supplied with video data as a transportstream (TS) output from the storage medium 104 b or input to the PVRcontroller 103 via its video input.

For the video input to a display device of the present invention, anantenna and tuner arrangement (not shown) may be provided to selectivelyreceive terrestrial television broadcast signals and may be further oralternatively provided with an external signal input port (not shown) toreceive a video input signal via a cable connection to an externalsource or service. Such a tuner may be an analog broadcast signal tuneror a digital broadcast signal tuner, and the cable connection signal maylikewise correspond to an analog or digital television signal. Inaddition to broadcast signal reception as above, one or more multimediaperipherals, such as a digital video disc player, videotape recorder, orother external player (not shown), may be variously connected to supplya video input signal according to user requests.

The PVR controller 103 serves as a central processing unit of thedisplay device according the present invention and controls the PVR unit104 in response to key signal data provided in accordance with userselections. For instance, the PVR controller 103 provides the PVR unit104 a thumbnail extraction command in response to a key signal from theuser interface and according to system programming. In response to thethumbnail extraction command, which is generated in correspondence to aspecific recording item, the PVR unit 104 extracts N (N being a positiveinteger) corresponding thumbnails at a predetermined time interval andprovides the extracted thumbnails to the PVR controller 103 for storagein the system memory 107 together with corresponding title and otheridentifying information of the specific recording item. It should beappreciated that the thumbnail extraction command may be generated inresponse to a recording key signal or a specific recording itemdesignation. That is, thumbnail extraction and storage may be performedat the time of originally recording (storing) a video input signal inthe storage medium 104 b or after designating recorded material of adisplayed recording item list, i.e., during an instance of menu display.

Subsequently, the PVR controller 103 uses the extracted N thumbnails toconfigure recording item OSD data corresponding to the recordedmaterial. In doing so, OSD menu data may be configured for the entirecontents of the storage medium 104 b, namely, recorded video contentavailable to the display device according to the present invention, andis stored in correspondence to each selectable item of a recording itemlist to be displayed. Thereafter, in the event of a recording item listkey signal input from the user interface 101, which is a user operationto request a generation and display of recorded material information, auser selection can be made as desired from a recording item listcomprised of the stored recording item OSD data. As such, the requesteddisplay of a current recording item list corresponds to entry of arecording item list mode.

In detail, in a recording item list mode selected by a user, a recordingitem list is displayed on a screen of the display device to provide theuser with a visual indication of all recorded material, that is, videocontent that has been stored in the personal video recorder and isavailable for playback using the display device. Using, for example, acurser to first highlight one of the recording items, the user may thenselect any recording item of the list, but if no specific recording itemis selected by the user, the display device may simply highlight alatest recording item, i.e., the last or most recently recorded materialamong the displayed recording items. The display of a recording itemlist according to the present invention includes a plurality of sampleimages for at least one item of the list and preferably a set of sampleimages for all such items.

In the operation of the above-configured display device, a video inputsignal is stored in the storage medium 104 b, enabling recorded materialto be played back by the PVR unit 104. Thereafter, if a user selects viathe user interface 101 a specific recording item from a displayedrecording item list, a key signal for selecting the correspondingrecording item is input to the PVR controller 103. In this case, the PVRcontroller 103 is provided with N thumbnails required for configuringthe OSD data of the selected recording item. These thumbnails may beprovided from the system memory 107, in accordance with a previousinstance of recording item OSD data configuration, or via the PVRinterface 104 a, i.e., from the storage medium 104 b. In the later case,since any display of the N thumbnails of the recording item OSD datarequires extraction from the recorded material, there may be some delayin generating the requested recording item list. In any event, theprovided thumbnail information is output to the video display processor105, to be integrated with OSD menu data of a current recording itemlist and displayed on a screen of the display module 106. In doing so, Nthumbnails are displayed via N preview windows, which are collectivelyarranged with at least one other identifying feature of the selectedrecording item, for example, its title and/or time information of thethumbnail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the configured recording item OSD data may includeten sample images or thumbnails (i.e., N=10) stored in correspondencewith one or more of a number of recording items. In the example of FIG.2, in addition to corresponding title information, the recording itemOSD data further includes a recording length and date and an icon formarking newly stored programs. With a recording item list thusdisplayed, if a user selects a specific item from the recording itemlist, the corresponding N thumbnails are simultaneously displayed on ascreen 106 a of the display module 106 via N preview windows and may bedisplayed in association with the title of the selected recording item.Here, the latest recorded material (i.e., “title of 6th recording”) isselected, and its title and other identifying features are displayedabove a set of horizontally arranged preview windows. It should beappreciated that, in displaying the thumbnails in association with thetitle information, the title information may appear on any side of orotherwise adjacent to (e.g., above or below or to left or right) thearrangement of thumbnails, and the thumbnails may be arrayed as a row orcolumn on the top, the bottom, or one side of the screen. With the Nthumbnails of a specific recording item thus displayed, the user mayfirst glance through the entire displayed set of thumbnails and thenselect (activate) any one of the N thumbnails, for example, the fifthsuch thumbnail, to begin reproducing the recorded material from therecording position of the selected thumbnail. In doing so, thecorresponding preview window is “popped up.” Though not specificallyshown in the drawings, the array of extracted thumbnails may extendbeyond the breadth of the screen area, in which case a scroll bar may beprovided to enable viewing of further thumbnails in cases where thenecessary extraction has already been performed or where additionalthumbnail extraction is to be performed by varying a preview windowcount (ten in FIG. 2) while in the recording item list mode. Also, acolumn-type array of thumbnails may be navigated by up/down keys, and arow-type array of thumbnails may be navigated by left/right keys.

Referring to FIG. 3, illustrating a generation and storage of arecording item list corresponding to recorded material, i.e., during arecording operation, a video input signal, for example, a broadcastprogram, is received by the display device according to the presentinvention (S301). With the video input signal thus applied, the systemprogramming of the PVR controller 103 determines whether a recording keysignal for storing the received video input signal in the storage medium104 b is input via the user interface 101, and in response to arecording key signal, the video input signal is stored in the storagemedium (S302, S303). While the video input signal is being thus stored,a corresponding set of recording item OSD data is configured and storedin the system memory 107 (S304). Here, the recording item OSD datacomprises recording item list data (e.g., title information) of at leastone recording item and a plurality of sample images extracted incorrespondence to the least one recording item, and the thus-generatedrecording item OSD data, including sample images, is stored in thesystem memory 107. As an alternative to storage in the system memory107, the recording item OSD data, and particularly the sample images,may be stored in the storage medium 104 b. In any event, the storage ofthe sample images enables the display of a plurality of thumbnailsaccording to the present invention; that is, thumbnail display is basedon separately stored video data. Complete recording item list data maybe generated by receiving information of a (broadcast) program togetherwith the video input signal information, including programidentification information such a title information, and determining atermination (start or end) point of the received program. That is, thesteps S303 and S304 may be repeated for each program of the video inputsignal (S305). In the extraction process of the step S304, for a videoinput signal comprised of I/Q frames, thumbnails are extracted from theI-frame as the signal is stored in the storage medium 104 b.

It should be appreciated that the generation and storage of a recordingitem list as above may be performed with respect to recorded materialalready stored in the storage medium 104 b and available for playback.That is, the above process may be performed in conjunction with arecording item list mode for enabling a playback operation, for example,as part of an initial step of selecting a recording item for playback.In this case, the video input signal of the display device is in effectbeing supplied from the storage medium 104 b, which may be an externallydisposed or remotely accessible storage device. In any event, recordingitem OSD data configured and stored in accordance with FIG. 3corresponds to at least one recording item of a recording item list andmay comprise such OSD data for all recorded material available to adisplay device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, illustrating the display of a selection from arecording item list, the system programming of the PVR controller 103determines whether a recording item list key signal is input via theuser interface 101, and in response to a recording item list key signal,the recording item list mode is entered to display a current recordingitem list (S401, S402). Each displayed recording item of the listincludes at least one identifying feature of the recorded material, forexample, a corresponding title, but may also include one or more of arepresentative image or specialized icon for the recording and itsrecording length, time, source, etc. If a user selects a specificrecording item from the displayed recording item list, the selected itemis highlighted (S403, S404). In the absence of any specific recordingitem selection by the user, the highlighted item may revert to a defaultcondition designating, for example, the latest recorded material.

In response to a user selection or highlighting of a specific recordingitem from a displayed recording item list, i.e., in the recording itemlist mode, a number (N) of preview windows are simultaneously generatedto be displayed in association with the selected recording item, and ineach preview window, a corresponding sample image is displayed (S405).

Thus, N thumbnails are simultaneously displayed via N preview windows,such that all the thumbnails are displayed in association with thehighlighted item and its at least one identifying feature, e.g., itstitle. The sample images may include any combination of one or more of athumbnail, a moving picture, or a still image (screen shot). Forexample, a series of thumbnails may be appear in the plurality ofpreview windows, respectively, in correspondence to N intervals of asize (period) determined by an equal division of the recording length ofthe recorded material. If the sample image is a thumbnail, the thumbnailsubstantially corresponds to a moving picture or video segment of, say,ten seconds in length, and is in essence a representative image of themoving picture, in which its final scene may appear, and perhaps remaindisplayed, in the preview window after the video segment has run itslength. If the sample image is a moving picture, the moving picturesubstantially corresponds to a video segment of one interval, such thatthe recorded material may be fully represented by a simultaneous displayof all N sample images via the N preview windows. If the sample image isa still image, a corresponding still image, e.g., an initial frame, ofeach interval is displayed in each preview window.

Various combinations of the above sample images to be displayed may bedevised. For instance, a plurality of still images corresponding to onedisplayed sample image, such as a thumbnail, may be stored in the systemmemory 107 (or the storage medium 104 b) to enable a selective displayof the plurality of stored still images in response to a designation ofa specific preview window. Then, at least one still image may be furtherstored in response to a user selection of at least one of the displayedstill images, so that recorded material (video content) may bereproduced from a recording position corresponding to the thus selectedat least one still image.

The number (N) of extracted thumbnails, and in turn the count of thepreview windows, may be determined in advance by a manufacturer of thedisplay apparatus or may be set and subsequently edited, as desired, bythe user. The preview window count may be set, by the manufacturer or bythe user, according to a default condition or based on the size(recording length) of the corresponding recording item. Thereafter, toedit the preview window count after selection of a specific recordingitem as in the steps S403 and S404, the current count may be displayedin a count window 106 b enabling a user selection of the preview windowcount, which determines the number of intervals (equal divisions) of therecorded material. In the absence of a user selection of a specificcount, the system programming equally divides the selected recordedmaterial by a default value count. Further, in the absence of anyselection of a specific thumbnail of a displayed array of thumbnails,i.e., after recording item highlighting but before playback execution,the N preview windows may each be popped up in turn (one by one)according to an automatic “revolving” thumbnail display cycling throughall N thumbnails.

Referring to FIG. 5, illustrating the selection of a displayedthumbnail, the user is able to navigate a screen indicator between thedisplayed thumbnails by manipulating the user interface 101, and indoing so, it is determined whether the indicator specifies one of thethumbnails (S501). If the indicator thus selects a specific thumbnail, apreview window for the selected thumbnail is “popped up”; that is, thedisplay size (dimensions) of the corresponding preview window istemporarily enlarged (S502). The selected recorded material is playedfrom a recording position corresponding to the selected sample image(S503). Here, selection of a specific thumbnail may be achieved byhovering the indicator for a prescribed time, as in a mouse-overmaneuver with respect to a target thumbnail, or by a standard clickingor curser-highlighting action. If a user mouses-over a series ofthumbnails, for example by slowly tracing the indicator to follow a rowor column of preview windows, each preview window of the series will bepopped up in turn. The enlarged size of the popped-up preview window,which may be selectively set, may range from slightly larger than thenon-popped-up windows (as in FIG. 2) to a full screen size thattemporarily replaces the entire OSD menu.

FIG. 6 illustrates a routine of the present invention, whereby in theevent of an interrupted playback of recorded material, particularlythrough a manipulation of the screen indicator, similar to the positionindicator of a conventional progress bar. Here, however, the indicatormay be a varied user selection (pointer, curser, etc.) with respect to adisplayed array of thumbnails as in FIG. 2, such that this routine is inessence continuously executed while such an indicator is being navigatedby the user. In FIG. 6, corresponding recorded material is played from afirst thumbnail selected from among a row (or column) of thumbnailssimultaneously displayed via the respective preview windows (S601). Itis then determined whether there occurs an interruption attributed tonavigation of the indicator (S602). Playback interruption may bedetermined in cases where it is determined that the indicator isspecifying a new (second) thumbnail in the same manner as described inrelation to FIG. 5. If it is determined that playback has been thusinterrupted, the recording item is reproduced from the new thumbnailposition (S603).

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary screen displaying a plurality ofthumbnails having a predetermined time interval to indicate an overallflow of recorded material in accordance with a time-shift function beingexecuted using the displayed thumbnails. As shown in FIG. 7, if a userselects a time-shift function of the display device, a progress bar,including a cache bar and a position indicator, is displayed using OSDdata, which may be superposed on a currently viewed video input signal,e.g., a broadcast program. In accordance with the time-shift function, arecently viewed portion of the broadcast program is temporarily storedin a time-shift storage area, for example, in the storage medium 104 b,enabling time-shifting of a received video signal. The color of thedisplayed cache bar may be varied in direct correspondence to the videosignal's storage.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, according to the present invention applied toa display device having a time-shift function, a plurality of thumbnailsis simultaneously displayed with a predetermined time interval inassociation with a progress bar. Hence, by considering the thumbnailsdisplayed per section on the progress bar, a user is able to recognizethe contents and status of broadcast program(s) stored in the time-shiftstorage area. Also, the user is able to play corresponding recordedmaterial from a specific recording position that may be gauged withrespect to the progress bar. For instance, if the user selects the fifththumbnail, for example by a mouse-over of the fifth preview window, thetime-shifted video signal display of the screen 106 a corresponds to aplayback from the fifth thumbnail.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a recording item of arecording item list is selected to display a plurality of correspondingthumbnails via a corresponding number of preview windows, which may beset by the user. The plurality of thumbnails are extracted in accordancewith a predetermined time interval and displayed together on a screen,which enables a user to recognize at a glance the overall contents ofeach item of a recording item list. Then, the user may navigate tohighlight any one of the preview windows, whereupon the highlightedpreview window is popped up and displays the recorded material from acorresponding position of the selected recording item, after which theuser may execute a playback operation to reproduce the recorded materialfrom the desired position. If so, the corresponding recorded material isplayed from the currently highlighted preview window to an end of therecorded material.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

By adopting the present invention, a user is able to recognize theoverall contents of recorded material selected by the user. Inparticular, the user is able to recognize the overall contents of aspecific recording item, prior to playing back the recorded material andwithout playing to view the selected recorded material entirely, withoutusing a bookmark function of a progress bar. With corresponding timeinformation displayed above each thumbnail, a running time can bepredicted with respect to a specific recording position. The presentinvention is nevertheless applicable to a display device provided with ageneral time-shift function.

Thus, the present invention provides a method of displaying recordedmaterial and a display apparatus using the same, which facilitates userrecognition of the contents of selected recorded material prior to itsreproduction, as well as user recognition of the contents of allrecorded material available for reproduction, so that the recognitionand designation for playback of a specific recording position ofrecorded material selected by a user.

Furthermore, as described above, the storage medium employed by thedisplay device according to the present invention may be externally oreven remotely disposed, and the extraction and storage of the pluralityof sample images for simultaneous display respectively via acorresponding plurality of preview windows according to the presentinvention may be performed in response to an arbitrary user selectionfrom a displayed recording item list, that is, after completion of acorresponding recording operation. As such, the corresponding recordingoperation may have been performed, at some earlier time, by a party oroperator unknown to the primary (or instant) user. Therefore, thepresent invention is applicable in cases where the user has notperformed any recording operation, or where the user is otherwiseunaware of the extent or currently availability of the recordedmaterial, and in cases where new or existing content may be updated orchanged regularly as through an Internet-based storage device or videoservice, that is, a storage medium maintained by others to include videocontent wholly unknown to the user.

The present invention is also applicable to photo series and to separatevideo-recorded material including digital interne video express (DIVX)and universal serial bus (USB) video recorded materials. In the case ofa photo series, each photo (i.e., recording item) includes a title and asize. A USB or DIVX recording item can include the same information as amoving picture recording item.

While the present invention has been described and illustrated hereinwith reference to one or more preferred embodiments, it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made inthe present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers suchmodifications provided they come within the scope of the appended claimsand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device capable of displaying a moving picture,comprising: a display unit; a memory configured to store the movingpicture; a controller configured to control the display unit and thememory, wherein the moving picture is played back on the display unit,wherein a predetermined number of preview areas are defined withoutbeing overlapped with one another on the display unit, and wherein thepredetermined number of different sections of the same moving pictureare concurrently played back within their corresponding preview areas,respectively.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein in response to selectionof a specific section among the predetermined number of differentsections, the moving picture is played back from a specific timing pointof the moving picture corresponding to the selected specific section. 3.The device of claim 1, wherein a length of a specific section of themoving picture is substantially the same as a length of at least oneother section of the moving picture.
 4. The device of claim 1, whereinthe different section of the moving picture is defined by equallydividing the moving picture by the predetermined number.
 5. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the played-back moving picture is displayed as amain picture and the predetermined number of different sections aredisplayed together with the main picture.
 6. The device of claim 2,wherein the specific section is selected in response to an indicatorbeing located on the specific section.
 7. The device of claim 6, whereinthe specific section is enlarged compared to the rest of the sectionssuch that the enlarged specific section partially hides its neighboringsection of the rest of the sections.
 8. The device of claim 7, whereineach section is enlarged one by one in series in response to theindicator tracing over a series of the sections.
 9. The device of claim7, wherein the specific section is enlarged in response to the indicatorbeing located on the specific section for a prescribed time.
 10. Thedevice of claim 7, wherein the enlarged specific section partially hidesat least two neighboring sections among the rest of the sections. 11.The device of claim 1, wherein a scroll bar is displayed on the displayunit, when the predetermined number of different sections are arrayed tobe extended beyond a breadth of the display unit.
 12. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the predetermined number of moving pictures areidentified by an identifier.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein theidentifier includes time information of the corresponding movingpicture.
 14. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality ofpreview areas is defined in the same size.
 15. The device of claim 1,wherein the plurality of preview areas are arranged in one of horizontaland vertical directions.
 16. The device of claim 1, wherein the movingpicture is a broadcast video of a program recorded during a prescribedperiod of time.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein a list of otherprograms recorded is provided on the display unit.
 18. The device ofclaim 1, wherein a scroll bar is displayed on the display unit, when thepredetermined number of different sections are arrayed to be extendedbeyond a breadth of the display unit.
 19. A device capable of displayinga moving picture, comprising: a display unit; a memory configured tostore the moving picture; a controller configured to control the displayunit and the memory, wherein the moving picture is played back on thedisplay unit, wherein a plurality of preview areas are defined on thedisplay unit, and wherein a plurality of different sections of the samemoving picture are concurrently played back within their correspondingpreview areas, respectively.
 20. The device of claim 19, wherein inresponse to selection of a specific section among the predeterminednumber of different sections, the moving picture is played back from aspecific timing point of the moving picture corresponding to theselected specific section.
 21. The device of claim 19, wherein a lengthof a specific section of the moving picture is substantially the same asa length of at least one other section of the moving picture.
 22. Thedevice of claim 19, wherein the different sections of the moving pictureare defined by equally dividing the moving picture by the predeterminednumber.
 23. A device capable of displaying a moving picture, comprising:a display unit; a memory configured to store the moving picture; acontroller configured to control the display unit and the memory,wherein a plurality of different sections of the moving picture areconcurrently played back within their corresponding preview areas,respectively, and wherein in response to selection of a specific sectionamong the plurality of different sections, the moving picture is playedback from a specific timing point of the moving picture corresponding tothe selected specific section.
 24. The device of claim 23, wherein themoving picture is divided such that a length of a specific section ofthe moving picture is substantially the same as a length of at least oneother section of the moving picture.
 25. The device of claim 23, whereinthe different sections of the moving picture are defined by equallydividing the moving picture by the predetermined number.